Justice

Placement | August 2020

Some are scared of change, but I'm excited for the future! My trainers decided the service dog path wasn't what I was born to do. Fortunately, my original breeding foster home, the Card family, has chosen to adopt me! I am excited to live a life as a pet with them! Thank you to everyone who helped me throughout my training.

Sponsor Announcement

Retrieving Freedom staff have been working closely with employees at CUNA Mutual Group to help sponsor my training. They graciously donated toward a Puppy Head Start Sponsorship, which provided the opportunity to give me my wonderful name! I want to thank CUNA employees from the bottom of my heart for their generosity toward my training. I hope to make them proud!!

Justice's Journey

Stage 1 Introduction

Hello, I am Justice. I am proud to have been selected to enter into the Retrieving Freedom training program.  My parents are "Annie" who is from Kerrybrook Labradors and "Cotton" from Yellow Rose Labradors. The Card family is the breeder foster for Annie.

During this stage of training I will be spending approximately 8 months with my new volunteer foster at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center (IMCC).  Throughout Stage 1, I will learn the basics obedience, public behavior, and a lot of socialization. I understand that it takes a very special dog to complete the program as there is a high standard to become a Service Dog. I am aware that I may be one of the dogs whose purpose is outside of service work so I will be updating my profile on a monthly basis for all that would like to follow my journey through the program.

October 2019 - 3 months old

I have been training hard with my handler at IMCC for a few months now. I'm working on basic obedience skills, ignoring distractions, and appropriate socialization around other dogs and people.

November 2019 - 4 months old

My handler says I'm learning quickly, but there's still lots of room for improvement. I know my name, and love playing with rope toys and with other dogs. I am sure to let my handler know I need to go potty by moving toward him. I get excited for feeding time and am learning to control my impulses. 

January 2020 - 6 months old

My handler tells me that I am very smart and motivated. This month I am learning 'positional commands." I have been working very hard learning the difference between "front" and "behind" Above, I am pictured working the command "behind" where I place my body behind my handler's body.

February 2020 - 7 months old

This month I have been working on the "place" command, which is where I stay on a designated surface until my handler tells me it's okay to get down. Look at the eye contact I maintain!